Social services in the Eastern Cape have been notoriously under-resourced for decades. The promise of a '€œbetter life for all'€ that came with the first democratic elections in 1994 has not always held true. In the health sector, shortages of medicines, bed linen and health workers themselves, continue to plague the health system. So is there any reason to hope? Health-e News Service visited Livingstone Hospital, Nelson Mandela Academic and Umtata General Hospitals and Cecelia Makiwane to find out.